RC planes – a primer

What would the world of rc plane hobby be without the actual rc planes? The aircraft is the most important part in this hobby since without it we cannot fly. However, this does not necessarily mean that it has to be the most expensive part of the hobby. Your rc planes will come and go so I like to say that there are other parts to put some extra money into instead, like transmitter and batteries to mention some.

For the rc plane beginner

In this article, we will look at different kinds of rc planes. What is generally distinguishing the different types and what characteristics can we expect. You will see that in the case of a person starting out in the rc flight hobby not all rc planes are suitable while it is very tempting to start out with some of the least good choices. When deciding where to start out as an rc flight beginner you will get some guidance in some of my earlier articles 10 steps to beginner rc planes and 5 excellent rc planes for beginners.

Radio controlled airplanes

It is quite common to group rc planes depending on e.g. motor type, flight characteristics and wing construction. We will spend a few minutes to look at some of the basic groups of electric radio controlled airplanes.

Beginners airplanes

This is where the beginner should look for the first plane to buy. Planes in this category generally have a bigger wingspan, have a high wing and are made out of some durable foam material. You will not break any speed records with a plane in this category, but that is by design so you will have more time to react on and also a more predictable flight. The planes can either be started from the ground or be hand launched depending on construction.

Some planes to mention in this category are

Multiplex EasyStar

Apprentice 15e

Sailplanes

Generally, the planes in this category has a wide wingspan. Wingspans over 2m are common and there are planes with and without any electric motor. They are either hand launched or launched by using a rubber band as a catapult a bit similar to the way that fighter aircrafts are launched from an aircraft carrier. The ones with engines use this to gain height and find thermal winds and then the engine is turned off. You are flying these planes like the real sailplanes using the thermal winds to gain height and then sail.

Some planes to mention in this category are

Parkzone Radian

Blizzard Glider

Park flyer

Many of the park flyers can also be considered as good beginners rc planes. How to define a park flyer might vary but I would say that a slow flying plane with good maneuverability that is not too heavy could be categorized and grouped into the park flyers. Also as the name suggests these are the planes that you bring to a park to fly during the weekend. Take a look at this discussion over at Wattflyer.com about what a park flyer might be.

Some planes to mention in this category are

Slow Stick

E-Starter

EDF – Electric Ducted Fan

This is a category where you will find replicas of famous military fighter jets like e.g. F18 and F35. The planes are quite fast and because they have the same design as fighter jets they are quite unstable in the air since they often have a narrower wingspan.

The electric ducted fan motor is really good to give you high speed but it also lacks the acceleration of normal electric motors due to the design of the motor. If you are not aware of this and flies this kind of plane like you would with an ordinary electric motor you will soon find yourself stalling when turning without enough speed. What happens is that the planes tend to tip stall, they will suddenly roll over to one side and on low altitude, this is tricky to get out of.

Some planes to mention in this category are

Airfield F18

Dynam A10 Thunderbolt

Warbirds

Often replicas of WWII planes can be found here. Fun and good looking planes overall, but also a bit trickier to fly somewhat due to their scale looks.

Some planes to mention in this category are

Dynam Spitfire

Airfield P-47

KIT, ARF, RTF, PNP and BNF

Another way to group rc planes that you will meet is based on what the kit includes when you buy it and how much time you will need to spend to get the plane up in the air. Common ones here are KIT, ARF, RTF, PNP and BNF.

KIT

Only the material for the model is included and you will need to build everything by yourself and buy all the electronics separately. Time consuming but a nice part of the hobby.

ARF

Almost-Ready-to-Fly means that you get a plane that needs a lot less time than the kit since many parts are ready. The degree of how much time that is needed to finish such a plane varies between manufacturers and models. Electronics are bought separately.

RTF

Ready-To-Fly. Everything is included in this kit. Plane, transmitter, receiver, motor, servos, batteries etc. OK, it is not really ready to, you will commonly need to attach the wings to the plane but that’s it.

PNP

Plug-And-Play is more or less the same as a RTF but you wont get the transmitter and receiver in the kit. This is for persons who already have their own transmitter and receiver.

BNF

Bind-And-Fly is more or less a RTF but in this case the model comes without the transmitter but the receiver is included. A Spektrum DSM2/x compatible transmitter is all you need to be able to fly this plane.